Hinge joint for eyeglasses

ABSTRACT

A hinge for spectacles comprising a joint body ( 5 ) used as a hinge axle, which body forms a coaxial circumferential groove ( 7 ) for receiving an eye ( 9 ) of a side jaw ( 8 ) and is rotationally rigidly held between two legs ( 4 ) of an end ( 2 ) of a side, which legs are mutually connected at least at one end and extend on either side of the circumferential groove ( 7 ). In order to provide advantageous constructional conditions it is proposed that the joint body ( 5 ) consists of two preferably disk-like parts ( 6 ) whose abutting surfaces (s) extend transversally to the hinge axle in the zone of the circumferential groove ( 7 ).

Applicants claim priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of Austrian ApplicationNo. A 1631/99, filed on Sep. 24, 1999, and Austrian Application No. A1185/2000, filed on Jul. 11, 2000. Applicants also claim priority under35 U.S.C. §365 of PCT/AT00/00254, filed on Sep. 22, 2000. Theinternational application under PCT article 21(2) was not published inEnglish.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a hinge for spectacles with a joint body usedas a hinge axle, which body forms a coaxial circumferential groove forreceiving an eye of a side jaw and is rotationally rigidly held betweentwo legs of an end of a side, which legs are mutually connected at leastat one end and extend on either side of the circumferential groove.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

In known hinges of this type (WO 99/14628 A1), the two legs of theU-shaped bent end of the side penetrate the preferably spherical jointbody on either side of the circumferential groove, with the connectingbridge between the two legs of the end of the side externallyoverlapping the wire eye of the side jaw, which wire eye is guided inthe circumferential groove of the joint body and is open on thecircumferential side. As a result of these measures, the joint body isheld in a rotationally rigid manner between the legs of the U-shapedbent end of the side whose connecting bridge which overlaps the wire eyeexternally additionally makes any inadvertent unlatching of the wire eyefrom the circumferential groove of the joint body more difficult. Theprecondition for such a design is, however, that the wire eye of theside jaw is provided with sufficient flexural elasticity in order toallow the same to resiliently latch into the circumferential groove ofthe joint body by widening. If such elasticity properties cannot beensured, which is the case for example in wire eyes made of a gold alloyor eyes which are closed off on the circumferential side, this otherwiseadvantageous design cannot be used.

Similar disadvantages are obtained in another known design (GB 2 281 979A) in which the joint body of the hinge which is encompassed by the wireeye is not spherical but is configured in the form of a disk which canbe associated with the side or the jaw of the side. The wire eye whichis formed by the jaw or the side must again be widened accordingly inorder to allow latching into the circumferential groove of the disk-likejoint body, which again requires a sufficient flexural elasticity of thewire eye.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is thus based on the object of configuring a hinge forspectacles of the kind mentioned above in such a way that wire eyeswhich are open on the circumferential side with a limited flexuralelasticity or eyes which are closed off on the circumferential side canbe used without having to take into account any complex mountingconditions.

This object is achieved by the invention in such a way that the jointbody consists of two preferably disk-like parts whose abutting surfacesextend transversally to the hinge axis in the zone of thecircumferential groove.

By dividing the joint body into two parts along a dividing surfaceextending transversally to the hinge axis in the zone of thecircumferential groove, it is no longer necessary to accordingly widenthe eye of the side jaw, because the two parts of the joint body can beinserted from opposite sides into the eye of the side jaw in thedirection of the hinge axis. The eye can therefore be provided with anopen and also closed arrangement on the circumferential side. In orderto mount the joint body with the eye of the side jaw held between itsparts, the joint body merely needs to be inserted between the two legsand its parts be connected in a rotationally rigid manner with the legsof the end of the side. The rotationally rigid fixing of the joint bodyconstitutes an advantageous precondition to determine the running of thehinge by the friction between the eye and the joint body.

For this purpose the parts of the joint body can be provided at theirmutually averted face sides with parallel receiving grooves for the twolegs of the end of the side. In order to enable the insertion of such ajoint body between the legs of the end of the side, the legs can bewidened within the scope of their own elasticity, so that the eye withthe inserted joint body can be inserted transversally to the legs. Inthe case of legs which are mutually connected at only one end, it ispotentially also possible to insert the joint body from the open side ofthe legs in their longitudinal direction. No separate tools arenecessary in both cases for mounting.

Various measures can be taken so as to prevent any inadvertentdisplacement of the joint body along the legs. Caulking or gluingbetween the legs and the joint body would be a possibility for example.Particularly simple constructional conditions are obtained, however,when the joint body can be latched into a latching recess of at leastone leg, so that the joint body merely needs to be displaced along thelegs into the latching recess in order to be held resiliently in saidlatching recess against any further displacement. This solution not onlyoffers the advantage of a toolless assembly, but also that of a simpledetachability

Since for inserting the joint body between the legs it is necessary toalign the two parts of the joint body with respect to one another insuch a way that the receiving grooves extend parallel on their mutuallyaverted face sides, measures are recommended which secure this alignmentduring the introduction of the two parts of the joint body into the eyeof the side jaw from opposite sides. For this purpose the two parts ofthe joint body can mutually engage with graded abutting surfaces whichallow the axial joining of the two parts only in the intended alignmentof the receiving grooves.

Another possibility to join the parts of the joint body with the legs ofthe end of the side is obtained in such a way that the legs of the endof the side are jointly mutually connected to form a receiving eye inwhich the joint body is held by a pin penetrating the same and that thetwo parts of the joint body are supported with respect to the receivingeye in a rotationally rigid way by way of rotational stops which engagein the latching recesses of the receiving eye and project axially beyondthe joint body. In order to mount the joint body with the wire eye heldbetween its parts, the joint body is introduced into the receiving eyeformed by the end of the side and held in said receiving eye by a pinwhich penetrates the joint body in the direction of the hinge axis andengages with its ends which project on either side from the hinge bodyinto bores of the legs of the end of the side. Since the two parts ofthe joint body are supported in a rotationally rigid way with respect tothe end of the side by way of rotational stops engaging in latchingrecesses of the receiving eye, the running hinge is again determined bythe friction between the wire eye and the joint body.

In order to dismount the hinge the joint body must be detached from thereceiving eye of the end of the side, which requires a removal of thepin penetrating the joint body. This can be achieved in a simple mannerin such a way that the pin is provided with a threaded section. Athreaded pin screwed into the end of the side requires a respectivefemale thread in the end piece, which not only increases the productionwork, but also leads to difficulties in the case of breakage of thethreaded bolt. For this reason the pin provided with a self-cuttingthread can merely be screwed into the joint body, so that it is held inthe end of the side in a freely rotating way with the pin endsprojecting on either side beyond the joint body. This measure allowsomitting the cutting of a female thread. As a result of the inherentelasticity of the plastic of the joint body it is possible to ensure asecure holding of the pin in the joint body beyond the threaded section.The unscrewing of the pin from the joint body is simple, so thatadvantageous constructional conditions can be brought about. They arebased on the fact that the parts of the joint body can be supported in arotationally rigid way in the end of the side by way of the rotationalstops, so that no torques caused by the actuation of the hinge areexerted on the pins.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter of the invention is shown by way of example in thedrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a hinge in accordance with the invention in a simplifiedview perpendicular to the hinge axis;

FIG. 2 shows a sectional view along line II—II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows the hinge according to FIG. 1 in a partly elevated viewperpendicular to the hinge axis;

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a hinge in accordance with the inventionin a partial sectional view through the hinge axis;

FIG. 5 shows this hinge in a top view in the direction of the hingeaxis, and

FIG. 6 shows a sectional view along line VI—VI of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

According to the embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 3, the side 1 madeof wire is provided with an end 2 which is widened into a receiving eye3. A disk-like joint body 5 is inserted in the receiving eye 3 which isformed by two legs 4 which are mutually connected at the two ends 2,which joint body 5 consists of two parts 6 which between themselves forma circumferential groove 7. The abutting surfaces s between the twoparts 6 extend symmetrically with respect to the circumferential groove7 and perpendicular to its axis, as is shown especially in FIG. 3.

The side jaw 8 of a spectacle frame (not shown in closer detail) formsat its hinge end a wire eye 9 which is open on the circumferential sideand engages in the circumferential groove 7 of the joint body 5. FIG. 1shows that the wire eye 9 envelops the circumferential groove 7 at anangle of approx. 270°, which excludes any insertion of the wire eye 9into the circumferential groove 7 of the joint body 5 perpendicular tothe axis of the circumferential groove 7 if the wire eye 9 is to enclosethe joint body 5 in the circumferential groove 7 in a resilient way inorder to achieve a respective run of the hinge. For this reason theparts 6 of the joint body 5 are introduced from mutually opposite sidesin the axial direction into the wire eye 9, with the wire eye 9 beingwidened slightly in a resilient manner. The wire eye 9 which engages inthe circumferential groove 7 of the joint body 5 is then inserted withthe joint body 5 into the receiving eye 3 of the end 2 of the side andfixed therein with the help of a pin 10 which penetrates the joint body5 and engages with its ends, which project axially beyond the joint body5, in the leg-sided sections of a pocket-hole bore 11 which is providedin the legs 4 of the end 2 of the side. The arrangement is such that thepin 10 merely penetrates with a self-cutting thread the bearing body 5in a positive locking manner. It is guided in a freely rotatable mannerin the pocket-hole bore 11, however, as is indicated by the play betweenthe pin 10 and the pocket-hole bore 11.

In order to prevent any simultaneous rotation of the joint body 5 withthe wire eye 9 during the swiveling of the side 1 with respect to theside jaw 8, the parts 6 of the joint body 5 are provided with rotationalstops 12 which project axially against the closely fitting legs 4 of thereceiving eye 3 and engage during the insertion of the joint body 5 intothe receiving eye 3 into respective latching recesses 13 of the legs 4and connect the joint body 5 with the end 2 of the side in arotationally rigid way.

In order to mount the hinge it is only necessary to insert the wire eye9 with the joint body 5 into the receiving eye 3 after the insertion ofthe parts 6 on the wire eye 9 and to fix the same with a self-cuttingthreaded pin 10 in the end 2 of the side, with the pin 10 onlypenetrating the joint body 5 in a thread-cutting manner. The hinge canbe disassembled in a similar way, because for this purpose it is merelynecessary to unscrew the pin 10 from the joint body 5.

According to the embodiment of FIGS. 4 to 6, the end 2 of the side atthe hinge end of a spectacle frame (not shown in closer detail) formstwo legs 4 which are mutually connected at their end sides by aconnecting bridge 14 and which receive between themselves a joint body 5forming a circumferential groove 7 for receiving an eye 9 of a side jaw8. In order to allow the joint body 5 to be inserted in the axialdirection into the eye 9, which in the embodiment is closed off on thecircumferential side, the joint body 5 is divided into two parts 6, withthe graded abutting surfaces s engaging mutually and the two parts 6being held together in a rotationally rigid way in the eye 9. In theengagement position of the two parts 6 as shown in the drawing, thereceiving grooves 15 for the legs 4 extend on the mutually averted facesides of the two parts parallel with respect to one another. The jointbody 5 can therefore be inserted together with the received eye 9 insuch a way between the legs 4 that the legs 4 engage in the receivinggrooves 15 of the joint body 5 and hold the same in a rotationally rigidway. The friction obtained between the joint body 5 and the eye 9 whichengages in the circumferential groove 7 of the joint body 5 can againadvantageously be used to define the run of the hinge, for which purposea respective fit must be provided between the joint body 5, which isusually made of plastic, and the metallic eye 9.

For the purpose of inserting the joint body 5 into the end 2 of theside, the legs 4 are slightly spread apart, preferably within the scopeof their own elasticity, in order to allow the insertion of the jointbody 5 with the eye 9 transversally to the legs 4 between same until thelegs 4 engage in the receiving grooves 15 of the joint body 5.Thereafter the joint body 5 with the eye 9 can be displaced against theconnecting bridge 14 towards a latching recess 16 in the legs 4. Whenthe joint body 5 latches into said latching recesses 16 the joint body 5is fixed with respect to the end 2 of the side in a non-displaceableway, but still offering the possibility of easy disassembly. In saidlatched position of the joint body 5, the connecting bridge 14 formsbetween the legs 4 a stop for the stretched used position of the side,from which it can be swiveled in according to the arrow 17, as is shownin FIG. 5.

What is claimed is:
 1. A hinge for spectacles with a joint body used asa hinge axle, which body forms a coaxial circumferential groove forreceiving an eye of a side jaw and is rotationally rigidly held betweentwo legs of an end of a side, which legs are connected to each other atleast at one end and extend either side of the circumferential groove,characterized in that the joint body consists of two disk shaped partshaving abutting surfaces extending transversally to the hinge axle inthe zone of the circumferential groove, the parts of the joint bodybeing provided at their averted face sides with parallel receivinggrooves for the two legs of the end of the side.
 2. A hinge as claimedin claim 1, characterized in that the joint body can latch into alatching recess of at least one of the least one of the legs of the endof the side.
 3. A hinge as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that thetwo parts of the joint body interengage with stepped abutting surfaces.4. A hinge as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the legs of theend of the side are mutually connected on either side to form areceiving eye in which the joint body is held by a pin penetrating thesame and that the two parts of the joint body are supported with respectto the receiving eye.
 5. A hinge ac claimed in claim 4, characterized inthat the pin which is provided with a self-cutting thread section can bemerely screwed into the joint body but is held in a freely rotatable wayin the end of the side with the ends of the pin which project on eitherside beyond the joint body.